Gears of War 4 is launching in October

The next big entry in the Gears of War series now has a release date: today Microsoft announced that Gears of War 4 will be coming to the Xbox One on October 11th.

The game will be the first in the series not developed by series creator Epic Games. Instead, it's being handled by a new studio called The Coalition (formerly Black Tusk Studios), formed by Microsoft after it acquired the rights to the Gears franchise in 2014. Microsoft calls it the start of a "new saga" for the franchise, starring a new cast of characters including JD Fenix, who just so happens to be the son of series hero Marcus Fenix. The game was shown off for the first time at E3 last year.

While the full game won't be available until October, you'll be able to check out a beta later on this month. The beta will be available first to those who already own Gears of War: Ultimate Edition — a remake of the first game in the series that launched last summer — on April 18th, before opening up to all Xbox Live gold subscribers on the 25th. The beta will end on May 1st.